Volcker Rule & Dodd-Frank: Too Much Too Little or Too Little Too Late?
JP Morgan’s recent headline-grabbing $2+ billion loss on certain derivatives trades, alternately referred to as “hedges” by management and “bets” by politicians and others convinced of the need to curtail such activities, has again riveted policy makers on the byzantine world of financial regulation…
Billboard-Sized Risk
The caption on a billboard greeting Chicago drivers in early May featured Ted Kaczynski, the infamous Unabomber, saying: “I still believe in global warning. Do you?” The outrage was immediate, compounded by news that the billboard’s creator, Heartland Institute, had plans to similarly compare believers in climate change to mass murderer Charles Manson, Fidel Castro, and even Osama bin Laden…
Partnerships at Work: Manhattan Country School
Manhattan Country School was founded in 1966 as a private school based on the principles of equality, social justice, and diversity in education, striving to make real the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King and the passion of the civil rights movement
. Since 1966 we have worked to incorporate our core values in the curriculum, community practices, and governance of our school. This year we celebrate our 45th anniversary – and 25 years of partnership with Walden…
Research & Engagement in Action
June marks the end of company annual meeting season, where investors may bring environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns to a shareholder vote via the proxy resolution process. This year Walden led or co-led 18 resolutions and co-filed five more on a variety of topics, emphasizing political expenditure and lobbying transparency in this presidential election year
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Summary of Walden’s 2012 Shareholder Resolutions
This year Walden led or co-led 18 resolutions… Of the 18 resolutions, seven were withdrawn after successful negotiations and three were omitted by the SEC or withdrawn due to a filing technicality…
$5+ Million Lifetime Gift Tax Exemption to Expire: Beware the Clawback
The extension of the “Bush Tax Cuts” in late 2010 included an increase in the estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemptions to $5,120,000 in 2012. These extensions expire December 31, 2012, and are scheduled to return to $1,000,000 for the estate and gift tax exemptions and to $1,340,000 for the GST tax exemption. This, coupled with the increase in the tax rate for transfers in excess of these amounts from 35 to 55 percent, means that people hoping to take advantage of today’s historically low estate tax structure might need to act quickly….
Cutting Edge Companies: Kraton Polymers
For many of us, molecular chemistry elicits distant and unpleasant memories of ill-fitting safety goggles and classroom experiments gone awry. For the scientists and researchers at Houston-based Kraton Polymers (ticker: KRA), however, molecular chemistry is a powerful tool that drives discovery, innovation and economic growth…